# WiFi Questions

**URL:** <https://community.purpleair.com/t/wifi-questions/10936>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [December 16, 2024, 2:55am UTC](https://community.purpleair.com/t/wifi-questions/10936 "2024-12-16T02:55:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cleanerair1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Cleanerair1](https://community.purpleair.com/u/Cleanerair1)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 2:55am UTC](https://community.purpleair.com/t/wifi-questions/10936/1 "2024-12-16T02:55:21Z")

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New to the community and sensor. I am not tech savvy.

We have the Flex. Can you explain to me how this will work in practice? Once you do the initialization with your Wifi does the sensor need to be near your WiFi? I want to place it about a block away from us. Does that mean I need to start it up with a WiFi that will be close to the sensor? Thank you.

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**Author:** ![dwhitemv](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.purpleair.com/dwhitemv/32/1508_2.png) [@dwhitemv](https://community.purpleair.com/u/dwhitemv)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 6:46pm UTC](https://community.purpleair.com/t/wifi-questions/10936/2 "2024-12-16T18:46:54Z")

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Generally speaking, yes, you want to deploy the sensor in range of WiFi so it can upload its measurements in real time.

Some sensor models also support writing measurements to an SD card. This would allow for deployment away from WiFi, but requires removing the card and reading out the log to obtain the measurements. More information about the SD card data is in the post linked below.

> [@SD Card File Headers](https://community.purpleair.com/t/sd-card-file-headers/279):
>
> Example SD Data The following files represent the data which may look like when copied directly from the microSD card: [Example SD Data](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Oi6HF9BRcnxZOrUz8HwhDuWFbI7rHe3m?usp=drive_link)CSV Headers The tables below show the fields/columns in SD data recorded by PurpleAir sensors. SD data is recorded to microSD cards in CSV format. SD Data is recorded using different field names than those used in the [PurpleAIr API](https://community.purpleair.com/t/about-the-purpleair-api/7145). You can examine the [API documentation](https://api.purpleair.com/) to see queryable fields from the API. If you experience any problems with SD data collectio…

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**Author:** ![Cleanerair1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Cleanerair1](https://community.purpleair.com/u/Cleanerair1)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 3:58pm UTC](https://community.purpleair.com/t/wifi-questions/10936/3 "2024-12-17T15:58:13Z")

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I did get the SD card so maybe in the beginning, we’ll rely on that. thank you.